When Evil was Innocent
by rockangel160
Summary: We're going back to 1981, when the terrifying Akito was nothing more than a 6-month-old baby. When Akito needs babysitting, who's better for the job than Ayame, Shigure, Hatori, and Kureno? A twoshot.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer…Do I really have to say it?

Supreme Court: YES!

Me: FINE! I don't own Fruits Basket. Although that was quite obvious, otherwise this would be published in some magazine rather than online.

* * *

SETTING: Almost 18 years before the start of the series, which is probably around 1981.

It was an ordinary Saturday night at the Sohma main house. Hatori was reading the novel his class was assigned, Ayame and Shigure were playing cards, and Kureno was lying on the couch playing with rubber bands. For little rings of rubber, the little "boing" sound they made could be quite amusing. Then, Akira walked in with Ren laying her head on his shoulder looking dressed up as if they were going somewhere.

"Boys, we're going out to dinner, so I need you four to watch Akito for the night." Akira said. All four boys picked their heads up from what they were doing.

"Are sure we're not a little young to be babysitting? I mean, Hatori, Shigure, and I are only 9 years old, and little Kureno's only 8." Ayame protested.

"Indeed, wouldn't you rather want an older servant or something?" Shigure added.

"Hush! When the head of the house asks you to do something, you do it! Is that clear?!" Ren scolded with her head still on Akira's shoulder.

"Yes. Pardon us, Aunt Ren." Ayame and Shigure bowed said in unison.

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Akira." Ren snapped back.

"Pardon us, Uncle Akira." They said in unison again.

"It's alright, boys. Akito is only six-months-old. She shouldn't be much trouble." Akira said.

"HE shouldn't be much trouble." Ren corrected him and glared at him.

"Right." Akira said with a sigh.

"Just make sure he doesn't break anything." Ren said finally, and then they were out the door.

Everybody tried to enjoy these last few minutes in peace, because in a few minutes the actual work would begin. About five minutes after her parents left, Akito woke up from her nap and started wailing. Her high-pitch shriek nearly tore all the kids' ear drums. Shigure decided to be the brave one as he headed into Akito's room, and picked the crying baby up and took her to the living room with everyone else. He tried walking her around the room, but she still sounded like a fire alarm going off.

"I think she's cranky." Shigure said holding her away from his ears.

"No duh, Captain Obvious." Hatori said as he plugged his ears.

"Hang on, I have an idea." Shigure said as he handed the still upset Akito into Kureno's arms. He went into Akito's room, dug through the drawers, and came back with two puppets, a dog and a rooster. He took Akito back and set her up in a little cushion in front of the coffee table. He gave the rooster puppet to Kureno, and put the dog puppet on his own hand.

"What exactly are we doing?" Kureno asked.

"We're going to put on a puppet show for Akito, of course!" Shigure answered. Then he put his hand behind the coffee table and said in a little puppet voice,

"Well Akito, how do you feel today?" Akito's crying just continued.

"Aw, it's okay, I'm the dog, and I'm here to make it all better." Shigure continued in his puppet voice. Then he whispered to Kureno,

"Well? Say something!"

"What do I say?" The confused rooster asked.

"I don't know. Anything! Use your imagination." Shigure whispered back. Kureno put the rooster puppet on his hand and said in his own puppet voice,

"Hello Akito, I'm the fun rooster! I'm here to tell you to be cautious with the dog. He's actually an evil wizard in disguise!" Akito's crying went down to just a little whimpering.

"Oh yeah? Well, why should she listen to you? How does she know you're not a slimy ogre in a rooster's skin?" Shigure said to the rooster puppet.

"Because, I'm way too small to be an ogre. The smallest one ever was still twice as big a regular rooster." Kureno said to the dog puppet.

"Well, you know what? It doesn't matter because I _am_ a wizard and I just turned your rooster into an ogre.

"Well, then my ogre steals your wizard's magic and turns him into an ugly toad."

"Hey! Ogres can't steal magic."

"Mine can. He's special."

"Fine! Then the toad steals back the wand with his tongue and drains you of all your powers. Then he SWALLOWS the wand so you can't get your powers back."

"Then, my ogre finds another wand in the mud."

"Wands just don't pop up in mud!"

"Yes, they can, because this is Magic Wand Swamp."

"Well, then I found a Super wand in the Super Wand Tree, and now I've transported you into a black hole."

"Nu-uh, because I was wearing my anti-super wand cape."

"Well, no matter what or where your creature is, Akito trusts me because she is God, and the dog is "god" spelled backwards." Shigure changed the subject.

"Well, rooster backwards is "retsoor," which is Norwegian for "God's best friend." Kureno said.

"You're totally lying!" Shigure accused Kureno.

"No I'm not, check in the Norwegian dictionary." Kureno bluffed.

"Oh and where am I supposed to find one of those?"

"It's called a library."

"It's not gonna have one here!"

"Yes it will. The library has everything."

"Yeah, because there are so many Norwegians in this country, we need their dictionary to understand them." Shigure said sarcastically. He turned to Hatori.

"Hey Hari, you go to the local library a lot. Is there a Norwegian dictionary there?" Shigure asked. Hatori sat up in his seat. For the whole argument he had nearly fallen asleep in his seat.

"Huh? Oh, no. There's not one that I've seen." Hatori said.

"Ha! I told you." The dog gloated to the rooster. The whole time they were having a fantasy battle, Little Akito had stopped crying and had been laughing and clapping her little hands at her Zodiac animals fighting. Hatori got up and picked up Akito from her cushion.

"C'mon, Ayame. Let's go feed him, or something." He said to Ayaa who this whole time had been laying on the couch. Aaya got up, and once he saw the now smiling baby, he took her from Hatori's arms.

"Oh, look at her! She's just so adorable! I can't help myself! I have to dress her up!" Aaya exclaimed as he rushed into the baby's room.

"Just don't go overboard." Hatori sighed.

In Akito's room, Ayame was having too much fun dressing up Akito. There were so many choices. Should she wear the blue dress with the yellow rose petals on it? Or, maybe, the light green dress with blue birds on it! Oh, the red one with little bowties was perfect! Aaya then picked out little accessories. He put a straw hat on her soft head, and put on these cute little black sandals on her feet.

"Oh, Akito, do you know how cute you are?!" Aaya giggled as he looked at Akito's little outfit. He set Akito and the floor and let her crawl away.

"That's right! Strut your stuff, you little ball of sunshine! The world is your catwalk!" Ayame declared as Akito crawled out her bedroom door. She crawled right up to Hatori who picked her up and widened his eyes at Akito's dress.

"Ayame! Aunt Ren is going to kill you!" Hatori shouted.

"Now Hari, lighten up, she's so cute! I bet Ren won't be able to resist her once she sees her girl dressed like this!" Shigure said while cooing at Akito.

"Guys, you know the rules. No dresses. Akito is supposed to be a guy, remember?" Hatori said.

"Oh, Hatori, you always have to spoil my creativity!" Aaya whined as he took Akito back to change.

"Alright, if it's boy clothes Auntie wants, then fine! I'll dress her in a kimono, but it'll be hot pink!" Aaya said.

"No!" Hatori shouted.

"Alright, have it your way, I'll make it magenta." Aaya said as he put a familiar robe on Akito.

"Now, don't you look dashing?" Aaya added as he help up Akito. Then an unpleasant smell filled the room. Ayame marched over, and gave Akito to Hatori.

"I think she wants you." He said Then Hatori sniffed the air.

"I think he has a dirty diap…," but before Hatori could finish his sentence, everyone else had already scrammed. Hatori sighed.

"Why am I always stuck with diaper duty?" He said to himself as he took Akito to her changing station. After giving her a fresh diaper, it was left to Kureno and Shigure to feed her. They, however, wanted to do more than just give her her food, they made another competition.

"Can she talk yet?" Shigure said.

"I think she's just learning how." Kureno said.

"How about a fun little wager? Whoever's animal she says first, the loser has to pay 530 yen."

"Deal." Said Kureno who smiled at this fun little game.

"C'mon Akito, say 'dog', say 'dog.'" Shigure said in a little baby voice.

"No, Akito, say 'rooster', 'roooosterrrr'" Kureno said slowly for her to understand. Akito sat there quietly as the boys tried to get her to talk. Finally, after a few minutes, she tried to speak.

"D-…D-…" She started.

"Hey! She's going to say dog!" Shigure cheered.

"Hold it. She has to say the full word first." Kureno said.

"D-…D…Dra-gon. Dra-gon." Akito said with a smile.

"Well, it looks like I win. Pay up boys." Hatori said as he walked into the kitchen.

"What? No way! You didn't have a part of this bet!" Kureno argued.

"You said "whoever's animal she says first," you didn't specify exactly that it had to be only between you two." Hatori explained.

"Dang it, Hari! You said you're going to be a doctor, not a lawyer!" Shigure said as he tossed his 530 yen to Hatori, and Kureno did the same.

After they fed Akito, they put her to bed, and her parents came home.

THE END


	2. Chapter 2 To the mall!

A/N: Ok, because it was requested, and I've finally come up with the plot for it, I've decided to make ONE more chapter

A/N: Ok, because it was requested, and I've finally come up with the plot for it, I've decided to make ONE more chapter. This story is officially a 2shot (unless I get another inspiration).

SETTING: 1983- A year and a half since we left off

Ren finished applying her makeup and putting on her earrings, grabbed her purse, and headed out the door. Before she left, someone interrupted.

"Mama, where are you going?" It was 2-year-old Akito, now able to walk, and almost mastered at talking.

"To the mall." Ren spat out as she gave her daughter a dirty look.

"Can I go, too?" Little Akito asked.

"Have you no brain, child? Of course you may not go! The mall is not a place for little brats like you." Ren snarled and slammed the door. Akito whimpered and tears rolled down her cheek. Conveniently, Shigure was walking by, and spotted her. He saw her crying and ran over to her and cuddled her.

"Aw, Akito, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" He said as he wiped her tears.

"Mama wouldn't wet me go to the mall with her!" She cried into his shoulder.

"Oh, Ren can be so cold. Don't worry! I'll take you to the mall, sweetheart!" Shigure said comfortingly. Akito stopped crying and hugged Shigure tightly.

"You will?! Thank you, Shiguwe!" She shrieked happily. Shigure went to go get their coats in the living room.

"We'll go in just a minute, I have to call Ayame; he'll want to come, too." Shigure said.

"Awww, I don't wike the snake! He's cweepy!" Akito whined.

"Now, now, Akito, It's VERY unwise to go to the mall without Ayame. Last time I went without him, he locked me in his closet and refused to let me out until I proclaimed him as the Super-Ultra-Mega King of the Universe 100 times." Shigure recalled.

"You did WHAT?!" Akito gasped at the thought of the snake taking her place as Shigure's Lord and Master.

"Don't worry, I was only kidding!" He laughed and called Ayame on the phone. As quick as a flash, Ayame arrived in his metallic, glittery, magenta coat and met the two outside the main house.

"Alas, there is no need to fear! I am now fully prepared to set off on our long, perilous journey to the end of the earth!" Ayame announced proudly.

"We're just going to the mall, Aaya." Shigure giggled.

"You're going to the mall, with Akito, by _yourselves_? Without any adults?" Hatori suddenly walked by and obtruded into the conversation.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine! What's the worst that could happen?" Ayame asked.

"You could get robbed, kidnapped, mauled, lost, or worse, you could lose Akito!" Hatori panicked.

"Oh, don't be such a worry wart, Hari! If you're so concerned, you should come with us!" Shigure suggested.

"You know, maybe I will. Someone has to take proper care of you guys." Hatori said.

"Shiguwe, Shiguwe! I want Kuweno to come, too!" Akito said tugging on his coat.

"Oh, Shiguwe, God can't go anywhere without her bird!" Ayame teased Shigure with the way Akito pronounced his name.

"Alright, alright. Let's go get the rooster, and _then_ we go." Shigure said as he led the way to Kureno's house.

The group arrived at Kureno's front door, but he wasn't there. Since Akito would not leave without him, they were forced to search almost all of Sohma property for the missing rooster.

Meanwhile, Kureno was perched on a tree branch hovering over a lake in his zodiac form. A female servant had accidentally tripped and fell on him, transforming him a few minutes ago, and the first thing he did was fly to this tree branch. He had wanted to do this for a while now, but he never had nearly enough courage to try it before. This morning, though, he woke up with a rare sense of boldness, and decided to try it. He spread his wings and glided gracefully over the water. It felt amazing to float on air, and he was so caught up in the moment he didn't notice the Mabudachi Trio and Akito passing by.

"There he is!" Akito shrieked in triumph. Shigure looked out onto the lake to see a small bird flying over the lake.

"Well, it's a bird, but how are you sure it's Kureno?" He asked Akito. POOF! Suddenly, the small bird that was flying a second ago transformed into a naked human boy falling into the lake.

"_That's_ how she knows." Hatori said wryly. Everyone rushed over to help the poor bird. Kureno lay face down in the cold water shivering his skin off. He had decided to fly over water so that, in case he transformed back, he could land in soft water. However, had he paid ANY attention in his biology class, he would've remembered surface tension and that because of it, hitting water after a hard fall feels just as bad as falling on a concrete slab, except now he was very wet. Ayame lent Kureno his jacket while they headed back to his house to get Kureno a towel and some clothes.

"What the heck were you doing out here?" Shigure asked.

"Flying." Kureno muttered in his shame.

"And you didn't think of bringing spare clothes?" Hatori commented.

"I don't know what I was thinking; I'm never doing that again." He said shivering.

After _that_ episode, the group of five finally got on the bus to the mall. Hatori didn't really like the mall, but there was no way he was letting Shigure and Ayame be in charge of Akito and Kureno. He felt like the only one in the group with common sense. When they first arrived at the mall, the first place Akito wanted to go was, shocker, the toy store.

"I don't see how small children can find this stuff amusing" Hatori said as he picked up a slinky.

"Hatori, if you don't like it, you can leave. We'll be fine!" Shigure said.

"Alright, but if anyone needs me I'll be in the…"

"…bookstore, next door?" Aaya finished Hatori's sentence.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"You're so predictable, Hatori!" Aaya said playfully. Kureno just amused himself with the rubber band balls the store was selling. Akito had stumbled along some electronic toys, things that were becoming more common as time passed by. One particular toy that caught her eye was a spinning toy that taught little kids about animals. She pressed the big red button, and the arrow began to spin. When it stopped, it landed on a cow, and a voice said "The cow goes 'Mooo!'" Akito laughed at this funny toy.

"Do you like that toy, Akito?" Shigure said.

"Yes."

"Would you like me to buy it for you?"

"Yes, pwease!"

"Alright, then." Shigure giggled at her little voice. The Akito's face turned curious.

"Shiguwe? Why don't I have a cow?"

"Excuse me?"

"God is supposed to have a cow." Akito said unknowingly using a popular metaphor.

"The cow hasn't been born yet. Don't worry, you'll have a cow someday (ba-dum chhh!)" Shigure answered. Ayame, during this whole time, had been running through the store looking at all the colorful toys, and trying to pick out one.

"Oh, there are so many choices! It's impossible for me to decide!" He shrieked.

"Hey Aaya, didn't your mom just have a baby? Why don't you get something for the little tyke?" Shigure suggested. Ayame looked confused for a moment, but then it finally hit him that he _indeed_ had a little brother now.

"Oh, yes, little…Yuki! That's his name! Hmm, do baby boys like Silly Putty?" Aaya asked. Shigure ignored him and bought the animal toy for Akito. As Akito got her new toy, she rushed to Kureno to show him.

"Kuweno, Kuweno! Look at what I got!" She showed him the electronic. Kureno looked up from his rubber band ball to look at the toy. Akito pushed the big red button to make the arrow spin. This time it landed on a rooster and the voice said, "The rooster goes Cock-a-doodle-doo!" They both laughed.

"Why don't you make that noise?" Akito asked.

"Um…"

"You're the Wooster, make the noise!" Akito demanded.

"Indeed, Kureno, please do." Ayame said. Kureno sighed and proceeded to make rooster noises. He looked like an idiot right now, but it was what Akito wanted, so he had no choice.

Then, they met up with Hatori in the bookstore. That's where Hatori spent all his time at the mall. He claims that he might run into girls if he goes into other stores, but really, he just hated shopping. He didn't understand how people could spend hours in a giant building even if they didn't plan on buying anything. Ayame enjoyed all stores. His parents often complained about the credit card bill they'd get. Aaya looked for his favorite fashion magazine, and found Shigure peeking at a romance novel.

"Shame, shame, Shigure! Didn't your mother say that you're not allowed to read that stuff?" Aaya wagged a finger at him.

"I would put it down if I could, but these are so interesting! I want to write stuff like this one day." Shigure said.

"Pfft. The day you become a writer is the day I get an emo haircut." Hatori scoffed.

"Shiguwe! Shiguwe! I have to go potty!" Akito said jumping up and down. Shigure was leading her to the bathroom half-way across the mall, but then a group of young girls sidetracked him.

"Oh my gosh! It's Prince Shigure Sohma!" The lead girl whispered loudly to the large group of girls behind her. They were the Mabudachi Trio fan club. The legend says that the Prince Yuki fan club evolved from this group. Shigure was the only one who acknowledged them because Hatori honestly didn't give a flying fish and Ayame was preoccupied with himself.

"Well, hello ladies! I hope you are all having a wonderful evening." Shigure said with his teasingly romantic voice. The group almost fainted. After an awkward minute of complete speechlessness, one girl said,

"Oh, what an adorable little child you have with you! We didn't know you were so wonderful with children!"

"Well, yes. This is my cousin, Akito. I decided to take the little darling out for a stroll in this mall." Shigure said pulling Akito to the front.

"Oh, is that a boy or a girl?" One of the dumber fan girls asked. The rest of the group slapped her on the back of the head.

"How dare you be so rude! Apologize to Prince Shigure, right now!" The lead fan girl shouted.

"No, it's quite alright, ladies. We get that a lot." Shigure said.

"Daddy says I'm a girl, but Mama, she says I'm a boy." Akito answered the girl's question in the best way she could. The whole group of fan girls was dumbfounded.

"Oh, kids! They say the darnest things! Really, he's a boy." Shigure giggled.

After getting past the fan girls and taking Akito to the restroom, he met up the rest of the group at the food court.

"Who were those girls you were talking to?" Hatori asked.

"It was our fan club." Shigure answered as he slurped his ramen.

"You actually talked to them? You didn't screw up anything, did you?" Hatori interrogated.

"Heavens, no! How could I screw up a normal conversation?" Shigure fell back offended.

"You work in mysterious ways."

"Why, thank you!"

"I wasn't complimenting you."

After finishing lunch, Akito suddenly had a craving for something sweet.

"Kuweno, I wanna go to the candy store!" Akito said.

"Kureno, go ahead and take her, but make sure she doesn't get too much candy." Hatori warned. Kureno put his rubber band ball in his pocket and took Akito by the hand. She was the one who pulled him to the candy shop. When she was after something she wanted, there was practically no way of stopping her. As soon as the got there, she browsed and inspected every type of candy for her favorite.

"Oooo, Kureno! I want the chocoballs!" She exclaimed.

"Uh, ok." The shy boy said.

"And the minty gum balls!" She continued.

"Um, I guess…"

"Can I get some pocky sticks, too?"

"Well, Akito, you shouldn't have _that_ many sweets." Kureno told her. She held the sweets close to her heart and started to adjust her face. _Oh no, please don't. Don't do the face! Not the face! Ah, man! She did the face! I'm going to go broke buying her all this._ Kureno's conscious was telling him not to, but he gave in as he saw Akito give him the puppy eyes and trembling lip. That was just so irresistible. He sighed as he paid the cashier for all the candy Akito wanted. They met everyone at the food court, and everyone raised an eyebrow when they Akito and Kureno return with a giant bag.

"Akito? What's in the bag?" Shigure asked.

"My candy!" She said with a big grin.

"Kureno, don't tell me you bought her _all_ that candy." Hatori slapped his face. Kureno just looked down and twiddled his thumbs.

"Kureno! If you let her manipulate you like that forever, you'll end up getting yourself in big trouble one day!" Ayame shook his head at Kureno.

"Sorry, she gave me the face." He tried to give the best excuse he could come up with.

"Alright, Ayame, it's your turn to take Akito." Hatori said.

Ayame took Akito to the media store. It had a bunch of movies, music, and all kinds of stuff. He went to get a video that a friend had recommended him. He let put a set of headphones on Akito and let her listen to the sample tracks while he looked. At first he had trouble finding the movie, but then he realized it was hidden behind a symbol of a bunny. Unfortunately, when he tried to purchase the movie, the clerk wouldn't sell it to him. In all his disappointment, he realized the only way to bring him back to cheery mode was to purchase a gorgeous gown that he saw at the boutique a couple stores down. He had not a moment to spare, for the dress may have been sold quickly. Luckily, he got there just in time. As he walked out of the store with his new outfit, he bumped into everyone else.

"Oh, hello gentleman! You absolutely must see the beautiful dress I just got!" He said proudly.

"Where's Akito?" Hatori asked. Aaya's smile turned into a look of worry.

"Oh dear. It appears I have left her back at the movie store." He said biting his nails.

"YOU LOST HER?! THE FAMILY IS GOING TO KILL US!!" Shigure yelled to the top of his lungs.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure, she's right where I left her, in the music section." He said encouragingly. They all ran over to the store and into the music section, no Akito.

"She's GONE!! Uncle Akira is going to grind our bones and spread it over his soup!" Shigure got down on his knees like a total drama queen.

"Calm down, we just have look all over until we find her." Hatori said calmly.

They searched for about an hour, but they still had no sign of Akito. Finally, as they gathered at the center of the mall, they finally found her. She'd climbed to the top of giant tree in the display area!

"Ah! Akito! Get down from there! It's dangerous!" Shigure shouted to the toddler who was several meters away.

"Aw, I don't want to!" She clung tightly to the tree and looked away from her cousins.

"Great, she's not coming down on her own! One of us has to go up there and get her!" Shigure panicked to the group, but then he noticed Hatori had already climbed a great deal up the tree! He focused on the spot where Akito was, and for a moment, he felt like the Spider-Man from American comics. Some kid from school had brought it back after a vacation to the United States.

"C'mon Akito. Come to you dragon!" Hatori tried to lure her down. She decided to finally come down, so she tried to jump on his back, but the impact sent them both flying downwards. Hatori landed flat on his back, but luckily, Akito landed on his stomach so her landing was softer.

"Guys, let's go home. Now." Hatori said exhausted.


End file.
